The "Rogers Christmas".

Today was our annual "Rogers Christmas". We went to Sherry & Stan's house in Clinton. The kids were so excited about going to see aunt Sherry & Uncle Stan. Another nice thing was that Uncle Kerry and Aunt Merry were there too. It doesn't really happen too often that we are all together.It is too bad that aunt Derry could not be there. Uncle Kerry got there around 12:30pm and we started lunch. After lunch was the BIG MOMENT-PRESENTS!!! The kids racked up. Joel got his 2nd Leggo computer game (Star Wars); Rock'Em Sock'Em game; Air hockey table; Soccer ball bank. Riley got a barbie dog that came with a purse and "veternarian supplies"- she loves that dog. She has been walking around all afternoon with it. She also got a dress up doll; Jesse got a VERY LOUD train (thanks Kerry); Go Diego go "cell phone"; some cool soap bubbles; and some great coloring books; Josiah got some great toys too. They had a blast. Jesse loves the "Rock'Em Sock'Em" game too. He kept asking Joel to play with him.

We are looking forward to Christmas. My parents went to Alabama to visitit my sister so it will just be us. We are planning to go to church Monday night and then hang out at our house on Christmas day and enjoy our presents. We are planning to go look at lights on Christmas night. We have done that in the past and kids love it. We will get them in their PJ's and ready for bed and then get in the car and look at lights. I hope they will remember these kind of things when they are grown. Another example of this is yesterday we invited our neighbor Lilli (5 yrs old) and we baked Christmas cookies (ALL DAY). We were planning to decorate them but had no time. So we are planning to get the decorating done tomorrow. I enjoy doing these things but it is also a LOT of work, especially with 5 kids. I had to really make myself not be so controlling. I set up a table in the living room with all my Christmas cookie cutters and then I rolled out the dough and let them pick out the cookie cutters and then cut them out while I put them on the baking sheets and then put them in the oven. They had so much fun. I know they are looking forward to decorating them.

God, thank you for my family. You have blessed me with a great husband and 4 wonderful children. I thank you for the Christmas season. Thank you for the birth of Christ and what He has done for me on the cross.

Christmas break has started

Christmas break has officially started TODAY. The kids finished school today and are ready for some fun. Joel started his vacation with a trip to the dentist. He did great with the cleaning and had no cavaties. He loves going to the dentist especially since they have all kinds of arcade games in the "game room". He was hoping they would have a WII game system but no such luck:) After the dentist we went home and rested. Joel and I actually played our neighbor's WII. He pretty much beat me in every game-especially baseball. I also tried my hand in golf but was not so good at it.

Terry has been off since Monday which has been really nice. It is just nice having him home and me being able to get some stuff done and not having to stop to feed the baby or change a diaper. I have been working hard on the teacher gifts for the past 2 days. I can't imagine when all 4 of them are in school. AHHHH! I hope they will like it. We also made a gift basket for Grandma "soup" (Sue) because she has been picking up Joel and Riley all year from school. She is so funny, she said she was going to put it in the trunk of her car so Lilli won't see it and ask to eat it all:) She said she was going to go home tonight after church and have a "chocolate party". Funny:)

Anyway, that is about it for now. I hope to add some more pictures soon . We just got a new camera and I can't wait to start using it and show off the pictures. Well, I hope everybody has a great Christmas and a very happy and healthy new year. We love you all.

Just some pictures of this weekend.

Christmas is here.

We had such a nice weekend. On Friday the kids (all four of them) were invited to friends house for a sleep over so Terry and I could go on a date. It was so nice:) We took the kids over around 5:30pm and then we went to "Bricks" for dinner. After dinner we went to Target and the mall to get some Christmas shopping done. We really didn't get as much done as we had hoped. After the mall we decided to get some "fru-fru" coffee at Barnes and Noble. I think we stayed there until closing (11pm) and then decided to drive back to Lexington and go to Wal-mart and see what we could get there. We stayed there FOREVER. I think we got home at around 1:00am. and CRASHED. We slept till about 8:30am and then went and got the kids. Joel had a flag football game so we had to get them early:) They had so much fun. Riley keeps asking me when they are going to have another sleep over. Well, after football we went home and had lunch and then dad came over and took Terry to Lowe's to buy him his birthday present - a gass grill. It is still in the box but we hope to use it soon.
After the kids woke up from nap, we got them all back in the van and drove back to Lowe's and got us a Christmas tree. As you can imagine, the kids were so excited. We got home and had a "decorating party" all with food; The Polar Express movie and Christmas music (after the movie was over.) They had so much fun but of course they were so tired. After we were all done, we laid on the floor and on the couch and just looked at the lights and listened to the music. I have to say, we all fell asleep on the floor for about an hour or so and then went bed. It was a lot of fun.

On Sunday morning, since the kids were still pretty tired we decided to stay home from church and rake leaves in the back yard. We made a big pile and when we were done raking we let them jump into the pile. They had so much fun-although Riley got hurt one time, but that didn't stop her from getting back into the pile. I look at these moments and I hope the kids will remember them. We just had such a good time!

Baptism

Sunday morning we had little Josiah baptised at LPC. The nice thing was that Terry's brother Kerry and his sister Merry got to come for this special occasion. They arrived around 9am and of course I was still in the middle of getting every body presentable since the entire family was going to stand in front of the congregation. Josiah did great. He has had a bit of a problem with spitting up so I made sure that he had a bib on before the baptism, The entire time we were waiting he did great- no drooling, no spitting up! Well, we got called up to the front of the sanctuary and guess what- he spits up, all over himself and Mommy. Oh well, I tried:) I have to say, everybody did great, no screaming, crying or picking noses (or at least I didn't notice it). After church, Terry got to drive Kerry's new Mustang to the restaurant. I am sure he enjoyed that very much. I am thinking that if he could trade his little green truck in for a brand new Mustang he would:) I guess a Mustang is not really a family car is it???

After lunch we went back home and while the men looked under the hood of the Mustang, Merry and I tried to get some more Birthday/Christmas shopping done-which was not successful. Everybody had a great time. The kids love their aunt and uncle very much. It is too bad we don't live closer. They would have a blast with all of them:)

Well, I better get going for now. I have a baby to feed. I am hoping to had a picture of the baptism.

Searching for the perfect gift...

Wow, what a day, I guess Christmas has really started. Terry and I started to make a list and checked it twice and today I went to 7 different stores to find ONE gift but could not find it.I went to two different Wal-Mart's,Sam's and two different Best Buy's. When I got home I called two different Targets and they both said they had this certain item in store but when I got there they said they were sold out. I could not believe it. I was SO mad. I really have no idea if I will be able to get it but we will have to wait and see. Next Friday some friend's of ours have offered to have the kids over for a sleep over so we can go on a date. We are hoping to get a lot of our shopping done then.

So, while I was driving all over town to find this " perfect gift", Terry and the kids were raking leaves. They were having so much fun.. I wish I could have taken some pictures but that didn't happen oh well. They still have the entire back yard to do. So I hope I will take some pictures then.

Well, that is it for now. Tomorrow is another big day. We are having Josiah baptised and I am planning to take pictures. So as soon as I have them, I will post them. Uncle Kerry and Aunt Merry are coming which the kids are very excited about (and so are we of course). It has been a while since they have seen them.

Now that our family is complete (although it is still missing a dog) I thought it would be a great time to start a "blog" and let all our friends and family around the world know what is going on in "The Rogers Neighborhood". Joel is getting ready to turn 8 years old in about 12 days. I cannot BELIEVE it. How can my little boy be turning 8! He is getting so big. He is in second grade now and got his first report card with actual grades on it. And can you believe it, he got all A's. He definitely got that from his daddy, not me. He loves school and has made some great friends. Riley is now in 4K and loves going to school. Although her days are only half days, she does go Monday-Friday. She loves her teachers and is learning alot. The other day she surprised us all when we were having dinner and she started saying the Pledge of Allegiance all by herself. WOW!

Jesse is almost 3 1/2 and loves being silly. He is the joker in the family so his nick name "Jester" really does fit. It is alot of fun to talk with him and see what all he has to say. We just have to worry about him when he goes to school-I already feel sorry for his teachers:) Our little Josiah is getting big too. I can't believe he is almost 6 months old. We thought our kids were easy, but he is on the top of the list. He started sleeping through the night at 2 weeks. I guess being child number 4 you really do have to be patient. I can't wait to see what he is going to be like. A lot of people say that he looks different then the other children. Joel, Riley and Jesse all love Josiah (or Joelsiah as Jesse calls him) very much. They all want to hold him and play with him.

God has blessed me. He has given me a great husband and great kids. I can't wait to see what He has in store for us.

To be continued...